[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—On reading the
article in which you comment unfavour- ably on Dr. Farnell's treatment of the editorial staff of a certain publication, I could not but reflect that nothing new has happened. Members of Universities have constantly been required to withdraw from those societies because of inability to conform to some generally approved standard; and the public has hitherto been quite satisfied that this should be done. Men have been rusticated by their colleges, or excluded from the University, because they could not pass a simple intellectual test. They have been rusticated, and even expelled, by the Proctors for vicious practices. In short, obliquity, whether mental or moral, has always been held a just reason for exclusion; and when immorality and imbecility (to judge from the printed words—I do not know the individuals in question) are found in combination, the case for vigorous disci- plinary action appears to be very strong indeed. The sanctity of free discussion cannot really be invoked in defence of people whose opinions, if seriously held, could only fit them for Broad- moor. In fact, the writer of your article acknowledges that free discussion has its limits; people who incite to murder ought, he says, to be warned off the premises. I do not say that the publication in question incites to murder. That would be libellous, and, therefore, I do not say it; moreover, I do not know whether elimination of the bourgeoisie by violent means counts as murder nowadays. But I suggest that it
Previous page
